


Hope for the Holidays

by marvelandimagine



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hanukkah, Holidays, I Love You, Jewish Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9228980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelandimagine/pseuds/marvelandimagine
Summary: After finding out that Bucky is Jewish and hasn’t celebrated Hanukkah in decades, the reader enlists the Jewish Maximoff twins to help her plan a special Hanukkah dinner for him that leaves him saying three words he never thought would be able to come off his tongue after his time as the Winter Soldier.





	

It’s the scent of his mother’s latkes and the warm light from the burning menorah in the sparsely decorated, cramped room that capture his attention the most. The room is small and poorly heated, but it still rings with laughter and chatter from his family. He is 15 and back in Brooklyn, smiling at his grandparents who beam at him as the Hebrew flows off his tongue nearly as well as his English.

But then it goes all wrong. The flames from the menorah turn menacing, engulfing the room in its path of burning destruction. He hears screams from his family in Hebrew, screams of families that aren’t his in a cacophony of language, and he is choking on the smoke and on his confusion, trying to sift through the noise and devastation. He understands them all, their pleading cries of “No, don’t do this” sending terror through him. He calls out in English this time as the fear builds in his chest, fear that magnifies as he trips suddenly and looks down, catching his fall with hands that are covered in blood- and one of those hands is silver.

Bucky bolts up next to you in bed with a scream, his breaths sounding as ragged as he looks; his dark hair soaked in sweat and his blue eyes gazing out in front of him in horror.

You sit up right away, heart hammering inside your chest as you reach out to touch his shoulder.

“Bucky? Are you ok?”

Bucky turns to you and seems almost surprised that you’re there, still reeling from the crushing realness of his nightmare to fully process where he is.

Like you’ve done countless times before – but with the same weight on your heart each time – you cup his face in one hand and stroke his cheek while the other rests on his shoulder.

“It was a nightmare, Bucky. You’re safe here. No one’s hurt. Nothing happened.”

“But this - this did.” His voice is hoarse as you look at him with concern, bringing him to rest with his head in your lap while you smooth back the tendrils of hair that cling to his damp forehead.

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but just know I’m here if you do, ok?”

Bucky remains quiet for a few moments before he does speak, closing his eyes tight as he savors the soothing effect of your caresses.

“I was … I was back in Brooklyn,” he murmurs, and you can’t help but wonder what kind of nightmare that strong could have been conjured up from his pre-Winter Soldier days.

“It was the last Hanukkah before I enlisted … my parents were there, my grandparents, even Becca. I could smell my mom’s latkes … and then everything was on fire and they were screaming, and other families were screaming in different languages, but I understood them all. They were begging me … begging me not to do something.”

His voice cracks on the last syllable and you grab his hand, bringing it to your lips before letting him intertwine his fingers with yours before he continues, his voice barely above a whisper:

“I looked down and my hands … they were covered in blood. And the one wasn’t human. It was metal. That .. memory … it was one of the happiest days I’ve had … and still, the Soldier finds a way to fucking ruin it.”

You see the silver fist close tight in agitation as his other hand squeezes yours, and you slide out from underneath him to guide his head to his pillow gently. You let him turn on his side before you turn on yours, spooning him in your tight embrace despite how much taller he is than you.

You press your lips to the base of his next as he shakes, and you know him well enough to to know that he’s crying soundlessly.

“I’m so sorry, Buck. That memory doesn’t need to be ruined, it shouldn’t be. It’s good and it’s great that you remember your family. Just remember you never hurt them. And those you did hurt, it wasn’t because you wanted to. You were a victim of HYDRA, just like a lot of other good people. And I know I never met them, but I know your family would be proud to see how caring and thoughtful you still are even after all you went through – how brave you were and always will be. And you still have people that love and support you.”

As you speak, the rise and fall of Bucky’s shoulders slows, and he takes both your hands in his briefly before twisting his upper body to face you.

You close the distance and bring your lips to his, your hand reaching up to frame his face and your thumb skimming his jawline as you pull apart.

“Thank you, Y/N. I’d be fucking lost without you” he says, and you respond with a sad smile, pressing your lips against his forehead before letting him turn back onto his side, snuggling yourself as close to him as you can.

“I’m always here, babe. Now try to get some sleep.”

You sense Bucky relaxing against you, but your mind is whirring – Bucky had never mentioned being Jewish to you. Honestly, he might have even forgotten for awhile. But now that you knew, now that you knew how happy Hanukkah made him – and that he hadn’t celebrated it in decades – you sure as hell knew what you had to do. But you only had one day to do it.

You were going to need some help.

-

You slip out of the bedroom early before Bucky rises, happy to see that he’s sleeping soundly.

You creep quietly down the hall and knock on Wanda’s bedroom door, but before you can even knock a third time, you feel a rush of wind and can’t help but smile as you turn to face the blond twin who is now leaning on the door frame, his blue eyes sparkling playfully as always.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he says in between bites of a breakfast burrito – that boy never stopped eating. “Wanda’s training if you need her.”

You gesture your head toward the kitchen and place a finger on your lips. Pietro follows you, leaning in close enough to hear your whisper that you can’t help but snatch a bite of his burrito first.

You hold up a finger again as he makes a noise of outrage, chewing and trying not to laugh before you speak quietly:

“That’s good shit, Piet. And actually, I need both of you.”

“You need my help after you steal my breakfast?” Pietro challenges, pouting but immediately snickering as you swat at him with a half laugh.

“Yes, this is actually important.”

The smile fades off the handsome Sokovian’s face fast, his eyes fixed on yours with curiosity and concern.

You take a deep breath, resting your chin in your hands on the kitchen island counter.

“Bucky had a nightmare yesterday, but before it turned bad, he was dreaming about the last Hanukkah he ever had with his family. I didn’t even know he was Jewish, I don’t think he honestly remembered until recently … but either way, it’s been decades since he’s been able to celebrate it, so I wanted to set up a Hanukkah dinner for him. But-”

You grimace and run your hands through your hair, clasping your fingers together in front of you in earnest, the words coming out in a rush: “I don’t know anything about actually celebrating Hanukkah, so I was really hoping you and Wanda could help me get something together? And we could get the team on it, too. I just … I really think it’d help him. And I know we have literally under 24 hours to get this together but I’d be grateful forever and will definitely take you and Wanda out for breakfast multiple times in repayment.”

Pietro takes in your hopeful expression and places the half-eaten burrito on the counter, staring at you for a few full seconds before pulling you into a near bone-cracking hug.

“So I take this as a yes?” You wheeze, patting him lightly on the back before he releases you and you’re surprised to see his blue eyes are rather bright, but his smile is as wide and Pietro as ever as he nods.

“Of course we will help. I’ll go get my sister and we can start preparing right away. Some of the food may be less American, but it is all same principle.” His enthusiastic tone softens as he continues, and you feel an upsurge of affection for the older twin.

“We both know what it is like to lose tradition, family. But we have family now here, and Barnes is part of that. We will have Hanukkah, together, and maybe this will help him sleep well.”

You beam at him.

“Thank you so much, Piet!”

As you grab your phone to start a group chat with everyone except your boyfriend, you call out to Pietro who has started walking toward the gym.

“Hey, remember, this is a surprise for Bucky!”

Pietro winks at you from down the hall, and his smile fills you with a rush of excitement that this might actually work.

“Don’t worry, prinţesă. House full of trained spies? Barnes will have no idea what is coming.”


End file.
